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Acrobat ReaderApplication · Adobe

CVE-2014-0511

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-03-27
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Heap-based buffer overflow in Adobe Reader 11.0.06 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, as demonstrated by VUPEN during a Pwn2Own competition at CanSecWest 2014.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability in Adobe Reader 11.0.06 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via unspecified vectors, likely through malicious PDF files.

MitigationApply Adobe's security patch for this vulnerability by updating Adobe Reader to a version later than 11.0.06, or deploy the official Adobe security update to all affected systems.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Acrobat ReaderApplication
Affected:= 11.0.6

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Adobe Reader is installed
    Check for Adobe Reader installation by looking in typical installation directories (C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Reader X\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Reader X\) on Windows, or check Applications folder on Mac. Alternatively, check Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat for Reader entries.
    Affected if Adobe Reader is not installed on the system.
  2. Determine installed Adobe Reader version
    Open Adobe Reader, then navigate to Help > About Adobe Acrobat Reader. The version number displayed in the About window is the installed version. Alternatively, check the version in Windows Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\Reader\Version or in the executable properties of AcroRd32.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 11.0.6.
  3. Confirm product is Acrobat Reader (not Pro)
    Verify the installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader specifically, not Adobe Acrobat Pro. Check the product name in the About window or in the Registry key path - the affected product is Acrobat Reader (AcroRd32.exe), not the full Acrobat Professional suite (Acrobat.exe).
    Affected if The installed product is Adobe Acrobat Reader version 11.0.6.
  4. Verify PDF handling capability is present
    Confirm the Reader installation is functional and includes PDF rendering capability. Check that the core PDF handling modules (AcroPDF.dll or similar) are present in the installation directory and the application can open PDF documents.
    Affected if Adobe Reader 11.0.6 is installed and capable of opening PDF files.

A user is affected if Adobe Acrobat Reader version 11.0.6 is installed and operational on their system.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Adobe's security patch for this vulnerability by updating Adobe Reader to a version later than 11.0.06, or deploy the official Adobe security update to all affected systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

Adobe Reader 11.0.07 or later (or current latest version)

  1. Download Adobe Reader 11.0.07 or later from the official Adobe website (get.adobe.com/reader)
  2. Install the updated version over the existing installation
  3. Alternatively, enable automatic updates in Adobe Reader (Edit > Preferences > Updater) to receive future security patches
  4. Restart the application after installation

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Acrobat Reader Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0511 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data